Is Procrastination A Virtue?

Procrastination has gotten a bad name over the years. How can anyone hope to achieve their goals if they are putting off their work until later?

A Positive View of Procrastination?

According to Rory Varden, in his book Procrastinate on Purpose, procrastination can be exactly the right choice if you want to achieve your goals. The issue isn't putting off key tasks but rather putting off the things that shouldn't be done earlier than planned if there is no strategic benefit.

You have a limited amount of time, energy, brainpower, willpower, and money. Any task you do right now is pushing another action out of the way to make space for it. That is fine if you are choosing the best action for reaching your goals. Though, if not, it is best to choose to procrastinate.

How Can You Tell When to Procrastinate?

In order to identify which tasks should be delayed for later or never, you need to run each task through a “focus funnel.” He breaks it into four key questions (as summarized in Lifehacker):

Can I eliminate it?

Can I automate it?

Can I delegate it?

(If the task cannot be eliminated, automated, or delegated) Can it wait until later?

If you answer “yes” to the first three questions, you ought to avoid doing the task completely. Otherwise, if it is possible to do the task later without consequences than procrastinating on the task may be the right choice.

You need to be careful that you aren't procrastinating because a task isn't “fun.” Rather, you should procrastinate because it can wait and there are other tasks that are more strategic here and now.

Moving tasks forward on your schedule without running them through the “focus funnel” first can be detrimental to achieving your goals. The best option is to take the time and evaluate whether the task must be done by you or whether it can be delayed. Telling the difference will better help you decide whether procrastination is the right choice for you.